Explanatory note

This Order relates to the Merseyrail Electrics railway network (“the network”).

Article 3 exempts railway passenger services provided exclusively on the network from the requirement in section 23 of the Railways Act 1993 to be subject to franchise agreements; and article 4 disapplies, in relation to the network, the following sections of that Act—

• section 37 which regulates the discontinuance of non-franchised and other railway passenger services;

• section 39 which regulates the closure of operational passenger networks; and

• section 41 which regulates the closure of stations and light maintenance depots used in connection with railway passenger services.

Article 5 applies to the network the provisions of Schedule 5 to the 1993 Act, which establishes an alternative procedure for regulating the discontinuance of railway passenger services.